III.  Legis. 


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H.  R. 

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S 


11th  Assem. 


REPOIIT 


THE  COMMITTEE  ON  INTERNAL  IMPROVEMENTS 


OF  THE 

HOUSE  OF  REPRESENTATIVES 


THE  STATE  OF  ILLINOIS, 


SUBMITTED 


TO  THE  HOUSE,  FEBRUARY  16,  1839. 


VANDALIA: 

William  Walters,  Public  Printer. 

IS39. 


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INTERNAL  IMPROVEMENT  SYSTEM. 


LA 


February  16,  1839. 

Laid  on  the  table,  and  3,000  copies  ordered  to  be  printed. 


Mr.  Smith,  of  Wabash,  from  the  Committee  on  Internal  Improvements, 

made  the  following 

REPORT: 

The  Committee  on  Internal  Improvements ,  to  which  was  referred  so  much  of 
the  Messages  of  the  late  and  present  Executives  of  this  State ,  and  also  certain 
resolutions  directing  the  Committee  to  inquire  into  what  modifications  of  the 
present  system  of  Internal  Improvement  are  neceesary  to  be  made  to  bring 
the  system  within  the  means  of  the  State ,  beg  leave  to  report: 

That  this  subject  has  received  that  due  share  of  their  attention  and 
deliberation  which  its  acknowledged  importance  demands;  and,  after 
having  bestowed  on  it  their  calm  and  sober  reflections,  they  have  arrived 
at  the  following  conclusions: 

That  the  system  of  Internal  Improvements  adopted  by  the  last  Legis¬ 
lature,  on  the  recommendation  of  several  preceding  Executive  messages, 
and  of  the  Internal  Improvement  Convention  then  assembled,  is  within 
the  means  of  the  State  to  complete  without  embarrassment  to  the  peo¬ 
ple,  or  arresting  her  career  of  greatness  and  prosperity. 

That  the  system  being  entered  into  by  a  solemn  compact,  the  faith  of 
the  State  is  pledged  to  the  people,  and  to  the  emigration  and  settle¬ 
ments  which  it  has  induced,  to  carry  it  out  to  its  full  extent,  and  not  to 
reduce  it  unless  with  the  consent  of  the  people  immediately  affected  by 
the  portion  of  the  works  proposed  to  be  stricken  off  or  reduced,  as 
manifested  by  the  opposition  of  their  representatives  to  the  system  itself. 

That  all  the  works  having  been  commenced  at  various  sections  in  the 
State,  the  people  of  these  sections  are  competent  to  judge  of  the  value 
and  utility  of  the  system  to  them  respectively;  and  that  so  long  as  they 
are  unwilling  to  surrender  their  respective  claims,  the  irresistible  conclu¬ 
sion  is,  that  the  system  is  not  too  large  for  the  wants  of  the  whole  people; 
and  that,  the  system  purporting  to  be  a  general  system  of  Internal  Improve¬ 
ments,  the  faith  of  the  State  is  indirectly  pledged  to  extend  its  benefits 
to  those  sections  of  the  State  not  now  accommodated,  as  early  and  as 
fully  as  her  means  will  justify. 

The  committee  propose  to  confine  their  investigations  principally  to 
the  elucidation  of  the  first  proposition,  upon  the  correctness  and  truth 
of  which  all  the  residue  must  be  supported. 


4 


It  appears  by  the  report  of  the  Board  of  Public  Works  to  the  Gov¬ 
ernor,  and  now  on  the  table  of  the  House,  that  surveys  and  estimates  of 
the  several  improvements  embraced  in  the  Interna!  Improvement  sys¬ 
tem  have  been  made.  These  surveys  demonstrate  the  entire  practi¬ 
cability  of  all  the  works,  and  exhibit  the  most  cheering  evidence  of  the 
superior  adaptation  of  the  topography  of  the  State  to  the  construction 
of  railroads  of  the  most  useful  character.  The  estimates  of  the  proba¬ 
ble  cost  of  the  railroads,  based  upon  the  actual  data  derived  from  the  op¬ 
eration  of  contractors,  is  no  less  encouraging,  and  afe  calculated  to  put 
at  rest  the  vague  declarations  of  the  opponents  of  the  system,  as  to  the 
enormous  amount  alleged  by  them  to  be  requisite  to  carry  out  the  system. 

The  committee,  taking  it  for  granted  that  the  entire  practicability 
of  the  works  will  not  be  questioned,  will  proceed  to  the  examination  of 
the  fiscal  means  of  the  State  to  prosecute  them,  and  the  consequent  ex¬ 
pediency  of  the  system.  In  pursuing  this  investigation  they  will  also 
take  it  for  granted  that  the  expediency  of  the  river  improvements  and 
ot  the  Great  Western  mail  route  is  conceded,  and  propose  to  restrict 
their  labors  chiefly  to  an  examination  of  the  railroad  branch  of  the 
system. 

By  the  report  of  the  Board  of  Public  Works,  it  appears  that  thesys- 
tem  embraces  one  thousand  three  hundred  and  forty-two  miles  of  rail- 
road,  at  an  aggregate  estimated  cost  of  §11,470,444  50.  The  present 
appropriations  for  river  improvements,  is  §400,001).  There  is  $*200,000 
appropriated  for  distribution  among  the  counties  through  which  no  rail¬ 
road  or  canal  is  to  be  constructed,  and  §250,000  foi  the  Great  Western 
mail  route;  making  an  aggregate  of  $12,320,444  50.  By  making  a 
proper  allowance  for  contingencies,  and  additional  appropriations  for 
rivers  and  mail  routes,  it  is  supposed  that  fourteen  millions  of  dollars 
will  be  amply  sufficient  to  complete  the  present  system,  with  some 
minor,  yet  important,  additions,  and  put  the  whole  into  operation. 

There  has  been  disbursed  by  the  Board  of  Public  Works,  up  to  the 
date  of  the  report,  the  sum  of  §1,079,793  71,  in  surveys  and  on  construc¬ 
tion;  and  by  the  Board  of  Fund  Commissioners,  in  payment  to  counties 
and  purchase  of  railway  iron,  and  contingencies,  §214,122  83,  making 
an  aggregate  of  $1,293,916  53.  The  principal  portion  of  this  amount 
was  expended  during  tbe  year  1837. 

The  framers  of  the  Internal  Improvement  law  had  it  in  view  to  re¬ 
strict  the  operations  on  the  public  works  so  as  to  make  them  bear  a  just 
proportion  to  the  surplus  labor  and  provisions  of  the  country,  and  this 
wise  policy  should  not  be  lost  sight  of  in  the  future  prosecution  of  the 
works.  It  is  estimated  by  your  committee  that,  in  view  of  the  prospec¬ 
tive  emigration  of  operatives  to  the  State,  at  least  §2,000,000  annually 
can  be  economically  expended  on  the  public  works,  until  their  final 
completion,  without  paralizing  the  agricultural  interests  of  the  State. 

The  following  tabular  exhibit,  based  on  the  proposed  annual  expendi¬ 
ture  of  §2,000,000,  shows  the  amount  of  debt  which  will  be  incurred, 
and  the  interest  which  will  be  payable  up  to  the  first  day  of  January  in 
each  year,  until  the  final  completion  of  the  works.  To  arrive  at  the  in¬ 
terest  account  to  be  liquidated  in  each  current  year,  it  is  estimated 


5 


that  the  amount  borrowed  in  any  one  year  will  bear  an  average  interest 
for  half  the  year  in  which  the  sum  is  borrowed. 

The  amount  of  Internal  Improvement  loans  on  the  first  day  of  Jan¬ 
uary,  1839,  as  shown  by  the  report  of  the  Fund  Commissioners,  is 
$2,204,600,  and  the  interest  thereon  has  been  paid  up  to  that  day;  there 
being  near  one  million  of  dollars  on  hand,  there  will  be  required  but  one 
million  of  dollars  in  addition  to  be  borrowed  for  the  present  year’s  ope¬ 
rations. 


Amount  of  Internal  Improve- 

Amount  of  interest  payable  up 

Years 

ment  loan  on  the  first  day  of 

to  the  first  clay  of  January 

•-  .*  ' 

January  in  each  year. 

in  each  year. 

1 

* 

1839 

$2,204,600  00 

"  ,,,r  ;  % 

* 

2 

1840 

3,204,600  00 

$162,276  00 

3 

1841 

5.204,600  00 

252.276  00 

4 

1842 

7,204,600  00 

372,276  do 

5 

1843 

9,204,600  00 

492,276  00 

6 

1844 

11,204,600  00 

612,276  00 

7 

1845 

14,000,000  00 

756,138  00 

8 

1846 

14,000,000  00 

840,000  00 

In  adverting  to  the  resources  of  the  State  to  meet  the  annual  liabilities 
exhibited  in- the  foregoing  table,  the  eommitee  will,  in  the  first  place, 
confine  themselves  to  such  means  as  they  believe  will  not  be  liable  to  be 
questioned  by  the  unprejudiced  inquirer  after  truth,  and  show  the  prob¬ 
able  deficit  to  be  supplied  from  other  contingent  resources  and  taxation. 

The  profits  to  be  derived  from  the  banking  operations  of  the  State  are 
variously  estimated;  but  taking  into  view  the  prospects  of  the  profits  to  be 
derived  from  a  sale  of  State  bonds  belonging  to  the  State  Bank,  amount¬ 
ing  to  $1,750,000,  as  shown  in  their  report  to  the  Legislature,  it  is  thought 
a  very  safe  calculation  to  put  the  Bank  dividends  at  nine  per  cent.,leav- 
ing  three  per  cent,  over  the  interest  payable  on  the  bonds  sold  lor  the 
purchase  of  the  stock. 

The  committee  are  also  of  the  opinion  that  the  State  bonds  will  here¬ 
after,  under  any  contingencies,  be  worth  a  premium  equal  at  least  to  the 
difference  in  exchange  between  Illinois  and  the  eastern  cities,  and  have 
therefore  averaged  their  premiums  and  exchange  at  two  percent. 

They  have  also  taken, as  further  data  for  calculation,  that  the  roads  as 
they  are  completed  and  put  into  operation  from  the  rivers  to  important 
trading  towns  in  the  interior,  will  soon  commence  netting  a  per  centage 
of  revenue  on  the  whole  amount  expended  on  the  finished  and  unfinished 
works;  which  per  centage  they  have  assumed,  in  1842,  will  be  two  per 
cent.,  and  to  increase  one  per  cent,  annually  thereafter,  as  the  lines  are 
extended  and  the  trade  and  travel  accumulate  thereon. 

The  committee  have  also  assumed  the  position  that  the  surplus  revenue 
of  the  General  Government  distributed  to  the  States,  although  in  name 


6 


i 


deposited  with  the  States,  is  in  fact  a  donation,  and  will  not  be  demanded, 
as  it  cannot  be  withdrawn  from  the  people  without  serious  interruptions 
to  the  settled  policy  of  at  least  a  large  number  of  the  States.  The  com¬ 
mittee  therefore  believe  that  the  third  instalment  of  this  fund,  which  has 
been  already  appropriated  by  this  State  to  internal  improvements,  can 
properly  be  constituted  a  fund  for  the  payment  of  interest  until  the  com¬ 
pletion  of  the  works,  when  it  may  be  withdrawn  and  repaid,  if  necessary, 
from  the  profits  of  the  system. 

Upon  the  foregoing  data  are  based  the  following  statements  of  the 
liabilities  and  resources  of  each  respective  year: 


For  1839. 


Interest  payable  up  to  January  1,  1840 
To  pay  this,  there  is  the  following,  viz: 

Third  instalment  of  the  surplus  revenue 

Balance  of  interest,  dividend,  &c,  in  hand 
of  Fund  Commissioners,  after  pajing  in¬ 
terest  up  to  1st  January,  1839 

Interest,  on  the  above  amount  for  one  year, 
about  - 

Dividends  on  $3,000,000  Bank  stock,  at 
three  per  cent.  - 

Premiumand  exchange  on  $1,000,000  bonds 
sold  at  two  per  cent. 


Balance  on  hand  January  1,  1840 

For  1840. 

■  Interest  payable  1st  January,  1841 
To  pay  this,  there  will  be — 

The  balance  on  hand  January  1,  1840 
Interest  on  this  amount,  about 
Dividends  on  Bank  stock  - 
Premiums  and  exchange  on  bonds  sold, 
$2,000,000,  at  two  per  cent. 


- 

- 

$162,276 

00 

$142,319 

14 

76,406 

78 

12,000 

00 

90,000 

00 

20,000 

00 

/ 

340,725 

92 

- 

- 

$178,449 

92 

. 

$252,276 

00 

j  178,449  92 
10.000  00 
90,000  00 


40,000  00 


318,449  92 


Balance  on  hand  January  1,  1841 

For  1841. 

Interest  payable  up  to  January  1,  1842  - 

To  pay  this  amount,  there  is — 

The  surplus  on  hand  January  1,  1841 
Interest  thereon  for  one  year,  say  - 
Dividends  on  Bank  stock  - 
Premiums  and  exchange,  2,000,000  bonds 
sold  at  two  per  cent.  - 
Tolls  on  $3,000,000  of  publie  works  expen¬ 
ded  prior  to  Jan.  1,  1840,  at  two  per  cent. 


-  $66,173  92 


-  $372,276  00 


$66,173  92 
3,000  00 
90,000  00 

40,000  00 

60,000  00 

-  259,173  92 


Deficit  on  the  1st  January,  1842  - 


$113,102  08 


7 


For  1842. 

Interest  payable  January  1,1843 
To  pay  this,  there  will  be — 

Dividends  on  Bank  stock  -  $90,000  00 

Premiums  and  exchange  on  $2,000,000 

bonds  sold  at  two  per  cent.  -  -  40,000  00 

Tolls  on  $5,O00,OO0  expended  on  public 
works  prior  to  the  1st  Jan.  1841,  at 
three  per  cent.  -  150,000  00 


Deficit,  January  1,  1843 

For  1843. 

Interest  payable  January  1,  1844 
To  pay  this,  there  will  be — 

Dividends  on  Bank  stock  - 
Premiums  and  exchange  on  $2,000  00, 
bonds  sold  at  two  per  cent. 

Tolls  on  $7,000,000  expended  on  public 
works  prior  to  Jan.  1, 1842  at  4  per  cent. 


Deficit  on  the  1st  January,  1844 

For  1844. 

Interest  payable  January  1,  1845  - 
To  pay  this,  there  will  be — 

Dividends  on  Bank  stock 
Premiums  and  exchange  on  $2,800,000  (bal¬ 
ance  of  $14,O00,O00)  at  two  per  cent.  - 
Tolls  on  $9,000,000  expended  on  public 
works  prior  to  Jan.  1,  1843,  at  5  per  cent. 


$90,000  00 
40,000  00 
280,000  00 


A 

i 

$90,000  00 
56,000  00 
450,000  00 


Deficit,  January  1, 1845 

For  1845. 

y  % 

Interest  payable  January  1,  1846  - 
To  pay  this,  there  will  be — 

Dividends  on  Bank  stock  -  -  -  •  $90,000  00 

Tolls  on  $1 1,000,000  expended  on  public 
works  prior  to  Jan.  1,  1844,  at  5b  per 
cent.  -----  605,000  00 


$492,276  00 


280,000  00 

$212,276  00 


$612,276  00 


410,000  00 
$202,276  00 


$756,138  00 


596,000  00 
$160,138  00 


$840,000  00 


695,000  00 


Deficit,  January  1, 1846 


-  $145,000  00 


8 


For  1846. 

Interest  payable  January  1,  1847  -  -  -  $840,000  00 

To  pay  this,  there  will  be — 

Dividends  on  Bank  stock  -  $90,000  00 

Tolls  on  $  1 4, 000, 00O  expended  on  the  pub¬ 
lic  works  prior  to  January,  1845,  at  6 
per  cent.  -  840, 000  00 

-  930,000  00 


Surplus,  January  1, 1847  -  -  $90,000  00 


It  will  be  observed  that  the  above  calculations  are  predicated  on  the 
expenditure  of  two  millions  a  year  during  the  next  five  years,  and  three 
millions  in  the  sixth.  If  it  should  be  thought  most  expedient  to  restrict 
the  expenditures  to  one  million  a  year,  and  prolong  the  completion  of 
the  system,  the  deficits  will  of  course  be  less  in  each  year. 

The  foregoing  statements  bringdown  the  calculation  to  the  first  day 
of  January,  1847;  at  which  time  it  is  presumed  the  whole  of  the  public 
works  will  have  been  completed  and  in  operation  at  least  18  months 
preceding. 

It  is  shown  by  the  statements  that  the  deficits,  to  be  supplied  by  taxa¬ 
tion  or  contingent  resources,  are  as  follows,  viz: 

On  the  1st  of  January,  1842  -  $113,102  08 

1st  of  January,  1843  -  -  -  -  212,296  00 

1st  of  January,  1844  -  202,276  00 

1st  of  January,  1845  -  160,138  00 

1st  of  January,  1846  .  -  -  -  145,000  00 

And  on  the  1st  of  January,  1847  there  is  shown  a  surplus  of  90,000  00 

If  these  calculations  are  to  be  relied  on,  the  deficits  to  be  made  up 
from  sources  other  than  the  profits  of  the  Bank  stock,  at  its  present  amount 
of  $3,0o0,0G0,  and  from  the  public  works  themselves  during  the  last  five 
years’ operations,  would  be  $832,812  08. 

This  sum  your  committee  believe  could  be  raised  by  taxation  without 
oppression  or  complaint  on  the  part  of  the  people,  il  they  could  be  as¬ 
sured  of  the  capacity  cf  the  works  to  support  themselves  after  their  com¬ 
pletion. 

The  following  table  exhibits,  as  nearly  as  the  committee  can  arrive  at 
the  information,  the  probable  amount  of  lands  which  will  be  subject  to 
taxation  within  the  several  years  in  which  the  above  deficits  will  occur; 
showing,  also,  the  amount  of  deficits  in  each  year. 

The  amount  of  entries,  from  this  time  forward,  is  estimated  at  one 
million  of  acres  annually.  This  estimate,  it  is  thought,  is  moderate 
when  made  in  view  of  the  prospective  emigation  to  the  State,  as  well  as 
of  the  fact  that,  perhaps,  at  least  one-third  of  the  present  population  of 
the  State  are  residing  on  Congress  lands,  which  now  are,  and  soon  will 
be,  subject  to  entry. 


9 


Years. 

Deficits. 

Number  of  acres  of 
land  taxable. 

Annual  tax  per  acre  to 
meet  the  deficits. 

1841 

$1 1 3,102 

7,837,208 

cents. 

1.43 

1842 

2 12, ‘276 
202,276 

11,500,000 

1.84 

1813 

12,665,000 

1.59 

1844 

160,138 

13,665,000 

1.17 

1845 

145,000 

14.665,000 

1 

1846 

Surplus  of) 

90,000  \ 

15,665,000 

If  the  progress  of  the  public  works  should  not  be  arrested,  the  emi¬ 
gration  to  the  State  for  the  next  live  years  must  be  very  great;  and  as 
capital  and  producers  flow  into  the  country,  improvements  will  be  ex¬ 
tended,  and  real  estate  rise  more  rapidly  in  value,  and  a  corresponding 
increase  in  the  amount  and  value  of  personal  property  will  ensue. 

In  view,  then,  of  this  accession  of  population  and  increase  in  the  avail¬ 
able  resources  of  the  State,  your  committee  cannot  see  any  just  cause 
f  alarm  on  account  of  the  deficits  which  they  have  shown  will  probably 
exist  for  a  tew  years  in  meeting  the  interest  on  loans. 

Your  committee  would  not,  however,  so  far  reflect  on  the  sound  intel¬ 
ligence  of  the  people  as  to  promise  them  the  benefits  ofan  extensive  sys¬ 
tem  of  internal  improvements  in  the  State  without  their  paying  an  equi- 
valentfor  them.  But  if  the  people  can  be  assured  that  this  system  can  be 
carried  on  and  completed  by  the  aid  of  a  moderate  tax,  for  a  few  years 
only,  and  that  it  will  greatly  add  to  the  value  of  individual  possessions, 
afford  a  cheap  and  certain  means  of  transit  to  market  for  all  our  produc¬ 
tions,  develope  the  dormant  resources  of  the  State,  augment  her  popula¬ 
tion,  and  elevate  her  character  at  home  and  abroad,  they  will  be  satis-^ 
fied  to  sustain  it  and  push  it  forward  to  completion. 

Having  given  the  quantity  ofland  subject  to  taxation  in  the  several 
years  in  which  deficits  will  occur,  and  the  rate  per  acre  necessary  to 
make  up  these  deficits,  the  committee  will  make  one  additional  remark 
in  relation  to  the  taxes  on  lands.  If  the  lands  should  be  taxed  in  pro¬ 
portion  to  their  value,  and  not  by  the  acre,  it  is  very  plain  that  those 
lying  nearest  to  the  public  works,  and  which  have  been  most  enhanced 
in  value  by  their  construction,  will  bear  the  greatest  share  of  the  bur¬ 
dens;  and,  perhaps,  it  will  not  be  too  much  to  say  that  a  small  per  cent- 
age  on  the  increased  value  of  the  lands  in  the  vicinity  of  the  public 
works,  given  to  them  solely  by  their  construction,  will  go  very  far  tow¬ 
ards  meeting  the  deficits  without  imposing  much  additional  burden  on 
lands  lying  remote  from  them. 

In  reference  to  the  foregoing  statements,  it  is  to  be  observed  that  they 
are  based  upon  the  present  amount  of  the  banking  capital  of  the  State, 
and  no  view  has  yet  been  taken  of  its  probable  increase  as  the 
commercial  wants  of  the  State,  and  the  future  development  of  its  re¬ 
sources  may  render  judicious  and  necessary. 


10 


The  mode  of  resorting  to  the  profits  of  banking  operations,  for  promo¬ 
ting  the  prosecution  of  works  of  internal  improvement,  has  been  adopted 
by  many  of  the  States  in  the  Union  with  signal  success;  and  this  policy 
can  no  doubt  be  pursued  in  this  State  with  advantage  to  the  great  finan¬ 
cial  interests  of  the  State  itself,  and  at  the  same  time  afford  valuable  facili¬ 
ties  to  her  citizens. 

In  view  of  the  probable  increase  in  the  banking  capital,  on  the  part  of 
the  State,  the  following  table  has  been  prepared,  to  exhibit  the  annual 
surplus  and  deficits  which  would  probably  exist  in  the  event  of  an  in¬ 
crease  of  the  banking  capital,  $1,000,000  per  year,  for  the  next  four 
years. 

In  this  table,  the  surplus  and  deficit  in  each  current  year  is  given  op¬ 
posite  to  that  year,  and  the  premiums  and  exchange  on  the  bonds  sold  for 
the  increase  of  Bank  capital  are  calculated  at  two  per  cent,  and  the  tolls 
are  assumed  to  be  the  same  as  given  in  the  foregoing  statement. 

T able  showing  the  probable  surplus  and  deficits  in  the  fund  for  the  payment 
of  interest  on  internal  improvement  bonds ,  predicated  on  the  increase  of  the 
banking  capital  of  the  State ,  $1,000,000  per  annum,  for  the  next  four 
years. 


Years. 

Increased  bank 
capital  in  each 
year. 

Probable  de¬ 
ficit  when  the 
bank  capital 
is  $3,000,000. 

Probable  de¬ 
ficit  when 
capital  is  in¬ 
creased. 

Probable  sur¬ 
plus  on  pres 
ent  bank  cap¬ 
ital. 

Probable  sur¬ 
plus  on  in¬ 
creased  bank 
capital. 

1839 

$3,000,000 

$178,449 

1840 

4,000,000 

- 

- 

66,173 

$116,173 

1841 

5,000,000 

$113,202 

- 

72,897 

184-2 

6,000,000 

212,276 

$25,379 

1843 

7,000,090 

202,276 

62,275 

1844 

7,000,000 

160,138 

40,138 

1845 

7,000,000 

145,000 

25,000 

1846 

7,000,000 

- 

- 

90,000 

210,000 

Note. — Fractions  less  than  one  dollar  are  omitted. 

There  being  bills  now  before  the  Legislature  proposing  to  increase 
the  banking  capital,  on  the  part  of  the  State,  at  the  present  session,  it 
may  not  be  improper  to  allude  to  the  effects  of  the  proposition  on  the 
interest  fund  for  internal  improvement  purposes. 

The  surplus,  as  given  in  the  foregoing  statement,  on  the  first  of  Janu¬ 
ary,  1840,  is  $178,449;  and  on  the  first  of  January,  1841,  $66,173. 

Should  an  additional  bank  capital  of  $3,000,00Q  be  now  authorized, 
and  a  portion  of  this  amount  constituted  a  trust  fund,  to  be  loaned  on 
real  estate  at  long  periods,  for  the  accommodation  of  the  agricultural  in¬ 
terests,  it  is  the  opinion  of  the  most  experienced  financiers  in  the  State, 
that  the  Banks  can  make  dividends  of  ten  per  cent,  thereon.  It  is  also 
believed,  from  the  present  condition  and  prospeets  of  the  money  market 


11 


in  Europe,  that  the  bonds,  if  seasonably  put  into  market,  will  command 
at  least  (ive  per  cent,  premium,  and  the  exchange  thereon  would  pro- 
'  duce  a  nett  profit  of  at  least  6  per  cent. — 

Then,  §3,000,000  bonds,  at  6  per  cent,  is  -  §180,000 

Six  months’  dividends  up  to  January  1,  1840,  at  4  per  cent.  60,000 


§240,000 

Surplus  on  the  1st  January,  1840,  as  shown  in  statements 

and  table,  is  -  178,449 

Making  the  surplus  on  the  1st  January,  1840  -  -  §418,449 

As  it  is  uncertain  whether  this  proposition  will  meet  with  the  favorable 
action  of  the  Legislature,  the  committee  will  not  trespass  on  the  time  of 
the  House  to  carry  on  the  calculations  for  subsequent  years,  it  is  obvi¬ 
ous,  however,  that  if  the  proposition  should  be  adopted,  and  its  results 
are  not  overrated,  it  would  go  very  far  to  reduce  the  amount  of  probable 
taxation  as  exhibited  in  the  preceding  statements. 

Your  committee  would  wish  to  avoid  all  imputation  of  indulging  in 
speculative  calculations  in  reference  to  the  resources  of  the  State  to 
meet  the  interest  accruing  upon  the  loans  for  internal  improvements, 
and  they  hope  that  they  will  not  render  themselves  obnoxious  to  that 
charge  by  adverting  to  another  source  of  revenue. 

The  committee  on  Internal  Improvements,  in  the  last  Legislature, 
taking  into  view  the  important  practical  results  of  the  grant,  by  the 
General  Government,  of  the  canal  lands  in  aid  of  the  construction  of 
the  Illinois  and  Michigan  canal,  submitted  to  the  consideration  of  the 
Legislature  the  importance  of  procuring  lands  along  the  line  of  the  pub¬ 
lic  works,  to  be  enhanced  in  value  by  their  construction.  In  accordance 
with  the  suggestion  of  the  committee,  authority  was  given  by  the  in¬ 
ternal  improvement  law,  to  the  Commissioners  of  the  Public  Works  to 
enter  lands  along  the  routes  of  the  several  works.  The  memorable  re¬ 
vulsion  in  the  fiscal  affairs  of  the  commercial  world  which  shortly  after¬ 
wards  ensued,  and  the  difficulty  which  subsequently  existed  in  obtaining 
the  description  of  funds  receivable  in  the  land  office,  tended  to  frustrate, 
in  a  good  degree,  this  design  of  the  Legislature.  Entries,  however,  have 
been  made,  to  some  extent,  by  the  Commissioners;  and  your  committee 
entertain  the  belief  that  if  a  special  fund,  say  of  §1,000,000,  could  be  set 
apart  by  the  present  Legislature  for  the  purpose  of  being  vested  in  lands 
near  the  line  of  the  public  works,  and  in  securing  important  town  sites 
along  the  routes,  and  the  works  should  afterwards  be  properly  located, 
with  a  view  to  State  interests,  the  profits  on  this  fund  so  invested  would 
be  sufficient  to  meet  any  deficit  in  the  payment  of  interest  on  loans,  and 
create  a  sinking  fund  sufficient  to  reimburse  the  original  investments. 

Your  committee  flatter  themselves  that  the  calculations  they  have 
made  in  regard  to  the  profits  and  dividends  on  loans  and  bank  stock  will 
not  be  considered  extravagant.  And  if  they  can  be  as  successful  in  de¬ 
monstrating  the  probable  accuracy  of  their  calculations  in  reference  to 
the  revenue  to  be  derived  from  the  works  themselves,  they  will  have 
done  all  that  can  be  necessary  to  satisfy  the  most  prudent  that  no  appre¬ 
hensions  need  be  entertained  of  burdensome  taxation. 


12 


In  prosecuting  the  inquiry  into  the  probable  revenue  to  arrise  from 
the  public  works,  the  committee  have  to  assume  data  which  is  general 
in  its  character,  but  which  they  believe  is  within  reasonable  and  tenable 
limits.  » 

The  railroad  being  commenced  at  the  navigable  rivers  on  the  borders 
of  the  State,  and  extended  into  the  interior,  cannot  fail  to  commence 
doing  a  limited  business  as  far  as  completed;  and  both  the  amount  and 
profits  of  this  business  must  rapidly  increase  with  the  extension  of  the 
lines.  During  the  years  1839,  1840,  and  1841,  at  least  300  miles  of  the 
railroads,  together  with  some  important  river  improvements,  should  be 
completed.  These  river  sections  of  the  railroads  will  run  through  the 
most  populous  and  improved  portions  of  the  State,  and  have  their  termini 
at  important  trading  towns. 

The  committee  have  assumed,  in  their  calculations,  that  up  to  the  first 
of  January,  1842,  when  the  sum  of  $7,000,000  will  have  been  expended 
on  the  public  works,  the  nett  receipts  for  tolls  and  water-rents  will 
have  been  only  $60,000.  It  is  supposed  that  this  estimate  is  within  rea¬ 
sonable  bounds,  and  cannot  be  objected  to;  and  the  ratio  of  increase  of 
one  per  cent,  on  the  expenditures  made  two  years  previous  to  the  date 
of  calculations  is  considered  equally  tenable. 

Your  committee  propose  to  take  the  railroad  from  Springfield  via 
Jacksonville  as  a  basis  of  calculation  for  the  probable  revenue  to  be  de¬ 
rived  from  the  river  sections  of  the  unfinished  lines.  It  is  presumed  that 
this  road  may  be  completed  and  in  operation  by  the  spring  of  1840. 

But  before  entering  into  this  calculation  they  will  take  occasion  to 
call  the  attention  of  the  House  to  one  road  in  the  western  country  that 
bears  a  strict  analogy  to  the  river  sections  of  our  railroad  system.  The 
road  referred  to  is  in  the  State  of  Michigan,  extending  from  the  city  of 
Detroit  into  the  interior  to  Ypsilanti.  This  work,  about  thirty  miles  long, 
has  recently  been  put  into  operation,  and  is  said  to  be  one  of  the  most 
profitable  in  the  United  States,  yeilding  about  $80,000  in  ten  months’ 
operations,  or  at  the  rate  of  about  $3,200  per  mile  per  year. 

Your  committee  regret  exceedingly  their  inability  to  furnish  the  official 
information  in  detail  in  reference  to  it;  but  they  will  state  that  the  in¬ 
formation  they  have  reeeiyed,and  as  stated  above,  is  from  such  an  un¬ 
questionable  source  as  to  justify  them  in  embodying  it  in  this  report. 

Your  committee  will  also  take  this  occasion  to  express  their  opinion 
that  these  river  sections  of  our  railroad  system  admit  of  no  comparison 
with  those  detached  divisions  of  the  canals  of  Pennsylvania  which  hang 
as  an  incubus  on  their  system.  These  detached  portions  of  her  great 
system  are  constructed  parallel  with,  and  on  the  immediate  banks  of,  the 
Delaware,  and  the  North  and  West  branches  of  the  Susquehanna.  They 
form  no  continuous  lirfes  of  communication,  without  transhipment,  to 
great  commercial  marts;  and  they  have  been  so  frequently  and  so  se¬ 
riously  interrupted  by  the  breaking  of  the  feeder-dams,  in  spring  freshets, 
and  by  other  casualties,  that  the  upper  country  do  not  depend  on  them, 
and  the  descending  trade,  therefore,  seeks  a  market  in  the  old  and  ordi¬ 
nary  modes  of  transit. 

The  Springfield  and  Jacksonville  road,  with  the  Naples  branch,  is 
about  60  miles  in  length,  and  will  cost  $600,000;  to  which  may  be  added 


13 


i 


$50,000  for  the  necessary  machinery  and  motive  power  to  put  it  into 
full  operation.  The  committee  assume  the  following  for  the  probable 
daily  business  on  the  road,  viz: 

20  passengers  in  each  direction,  at  6  cents  per  mile,  or 

$3  60  :  -  -  -  -  -  $144  00 

20  tons  of  imports  and  exports  in  each  direction,  at  5 

cents  per  mile  per  ton  -----  120  00 

United  States’  mail  -  -  -  -  -  25  00 


289  00 


Deduct  for  repairs,  superintendence,  labor,  motive  power, 
and  wear  and  tear  of  machinery,  $13l  per  day,  equiv¬ 
alent  to  $655  per  mile  per  year  -  -  1 31  00 


Nett  profit  per  day  -  -  -  -  -  158  00 


Calculating  300  days  in  the  year,  the  annual  income  would  be  $>47,460, 
and  for  half  the  year  1840,  and  up  to  the  1st  of  January,  1842,  $71,100, 
being  $1 1,100  more  than  is  allowed  by  the  committee  for  the  nett  reve¬ 
nue  from  the  whole  of  the  public  works  in  operation  up  to  that  time. 

The  tonnage,  of  40  tons  per  day  on  this  road,  amounts  to  12,000  tons 
per  annum;  and  it  is  incumbent  on  the  committee  to  examine  whether 
this  is  or  is  not  an  extravagant  calculation. 

The  committee  have  not  been  so  fortunate  as  to  have  at  their  dispo¬ 
sal  any  definite  statistical  account  of  the  imports  and  exports  of  the 
interesting  portion  of  the  State  penetrated  by  the  above  work;  but  hav¬ 
ing  at  their  command  the  following  statement  of  the  exports  and  im¬ 
ports  of  Galena,  for  the  year  1838,  they  will  submit  that  as  data  from 
which  inference  may  be  drawn  of  the  probable  amount  of  tonnage  on  the 
road  in  question. 

The  exports  of  Galena  and  its  vicinity,  in  1838,  are  stated  to  be — in 
lead  ------  8,000  tons* 

The  imports  may  be  derived  from  the  number  of  steam¬ 
boat  arrivals  from  below,  which  were  228  boats,  aver¬ 
aging  100  tons  each — making  -  22,800  tons. 

Of  this  amount,  there  were  the  following,  viz: 

6,000  barrels  of  flour,  or  600  tons 
3,000  barrels  of  pork,  or  500  tons 


1,100 

-  21,700  tons. 

Total  imports  and  exports  (provisions  excepted)  -  29,700  tons. 


From  the  above  statement,  it  appears  that  upwards  of  20,000  tons  of 
merchandize  and  foreign  articles  of  use  and  consumption  are  necessary 
-to  supply  the  demands  of  the  country  depending  on  the  town  of  Galena. 
Should  this  calculation  be  approximately  correct,  it  is  presumed  that 
the  estimate  of  12,000  tons  of  exports  and  imports  on  60  miles  of  railroad, 
traversing  a  country  so  well  improved  and  densely  populated  as  is  that 
on  the  route  of  this  road,  and  which  produces  a  large  surplus  of  the 
heavy  staples  of  the  country,  is  by  no  means  exorbitant. 


14 


t 


i 


Leaving  the  above  line  of  work,  the  committee  will  proceed  to  take  a 
view  of  the  fiscal  ability  of  the  whole  system,  and  will  then  close  this 
branch  of  their  investigation. 

In  pursuing  this  subject,  it  is  proper  to  regard  the  geographical  position 
of  our  State,  in  relation  to  the  grand  and  extensive  systems  of  improve¬ 
ments  in  progress,  or  in  contemplation,  in  other  States  in  the  Union,  in 
order  to  arrive  at  some  data  by  which  to  calculate  the  prospective  for¬ 
eign  trade  arid  commerce  upon  our  public  works.  ^ 

The  State  of  Illinois  occupies  a  very  central  position  on  the  map  of 
the  United  States,  and  embraces  a  greater  extent  of  latitude  than  any 
other  State  in  the  Union.  All  the  great  projected  lines  ol  overland 
communication  from  the  seaboard  to  the  Mississippi  river  concentrate 
north  of  the  Ohio,  and,  from  our  geographical  position,  must  cross  our 
territory. 

The  great  Southern  railroad  from  Charleston  to  Cincinnati  and  Louis¬ 
ville  has  its  most  southerly  terminus  on  the  Ohio  river,  near  one  hun¬ 
dred  miles  north  of  the  southern  extremity  of  Illinois,  and  twenty-five 
miles  south  of  St.  Louis.  All  the  more  northerly  routes  from  Virginia, 
Maryland,  Pennsylvania,  and  New  York  to  the  Mississippi  river,  must 
necessarily  pass  between  the  Ohio  river  and  the  southerly  bend  of  lake 
Michigan,  and  consequently  traverse  the  entire  breadth  of^our  State. 

It  is  a  well  known  fact,  acknowledged  in  the  public  documents  of  the- 
respective  States,  that  New  York  and  Pennsylvania  have  long  been 
competitors  for  the  trade  of  the  northwestern  States;  and  they  have 
lavished  their  millions  on  public  works,  in  this  grand  rivalship.  The 
works  of  Maryland  and  Virginia  excited  little  fears  from  either  Penn¬ 
sylvania  or  New  York,  until  within  a  few  years.  The  developments  of 
railroad  operations  have  demonstrated  the  fact  that  this  species  of  im¬ 
provements  are  better  calculated  to  accommodate  the  commercial  com¬ 
munity  than  canals.  The  observation  and  foresight  of  New  York 
could  not  sleep  over  this  fact,  and  there  was  at  once  projected  a  rail¬ 
way  from  their  commercial  emporium  to  the  western  lakes,  having  a 
southerly  termination,  with  a  view  of  its  ultimate  extension  into  the  bo¬ 
som  of  the  western  States. 

No  sooner  was  this  project  of  New  York  set  on  foot,  than  Pennsylva¬ 
nia  projected  an  extension  of  her  Philadelphia  and  Susquehanna  rail¬ 
road  to  lake  Erie;  and  more  recently,  a  project  has  been  suggested  of 
constructing  a  continuous  line  of  railroad  from  Philadelphia  to  St.  Louis. 

Whilst  New  York,  Pennsylvania,  Maryland,  and  Virginia  were  thus 
engaged  in  constructing  works  of  internal  improvements  to  secure  to 
their  respective  Atlantic  emporiums  the  trade  and  travel  of  the  great 
western  valley,  a  new  and  common  rival  to  them  all  has  recently  sprung 
up.  This  formidable  rival  is  the  great  Southern  railroad  from  Charleston 
to  Cincinnati  and  Louisville. 

When  this  work  was  first  projected,  like  many  other  important  im¬ 
provements  with  which  the  age  abounds,  it  was  considered  exceedingly 
chimerical  by  many.  Some  giant  minds  of  the  sanguine  south  grasped 
the  project,  with  a  firm  conviction  of  its  practicability  and  usefulness; 
and  no  doubts  are  now  entertained  of  its  completion  within  a  few  years. 
It  has  been  found,  from  the  actual  surveys  of  the  line,  that  the  Alleghany 
chain  can  be  crossed  by  this  road  at  one-half  the  elevation  that  presents 


15 


barriers  to  the  Virginia,  Maryland,  and  Pennsylvania  routes,  and  that 
the  grades  upon  Abe  road  are  comparatively  light;  and  of  course  the 
transportation  on  .them  wifi  be  less  expensive  than  on  either  of  the  other 
routes.  The  line  from  Louisville  to  Charleston  is  the  shortest  route 
by  which  the  Ohio  and  the  ocean  can  be  connected. 

This  route  is  340  miles  nearer  than  by  New  York,  240  miles  nearer 
than  by  Philadelphia,  40  miles  nearer  than  by  Baltimore,  and  170  miles 
nearer  than  by  Mobile.  The  city  of  Charleston  is  within  a  short  dis¬ 
tance  of  the  ocean,  and  accessible  at  all  seasons  of  the  year.  This  rail¬ 
road  is  controlled  by  men  of  the  first  talents  and  enterprise  of  the 
age:  and  from  the  liberal  banking  privileges  granted  the  company  by 
several  of  the  StatesAhrough  which  the  line  of  their  work  is  carried, 
their  mean's  are  ample.  Eight  millions  of  capital  have  been  subscribed. 
During  the  severest  depression  in  the  money  market  of  Europe  and  this 
country  which  has  been  known  for  many  years,  the  company  was  able 
to  negotiate  a  loan  of  two  millions  of  dollars  in  London,  within  the 
space  of  ten  days;  and  their  agent  returned  with  the  money  in  the  same 
vessel  that  carried  him  out.  One  hundred  and  twenty-eight  miles  of 
the  road  from  Charleston  westerly  is  expected  to  be  completed  during 
the  present  year,  and  one  hundred  and  ten  miies  more  will  be  placed 
under  contract. 

That  New  York  and  Pennsylvania  will  look  patiently  and  inactively 
at  the  efforts  making  by  their  great  southern  rival  is  not  to  be  expected. 
It  would  be.to  desert  all  their  former  designs  and  plans  of  political 
economy,  for  which  millions  have  been  liberally  expended,  and  for 
which  they  are  just  commencing  to  reap  their  rewards.  It  is  not  to  be 
supposed  that  any  thing  short  of  a  continuous  and  uninterrupted  line  of 
communication  from  the  seaboard  to  the  great  father  of  waters  will  satis¬ 
fy  their  enterprise.  Pennsylvania  has  peculiar  encouragements  to  em¬ 
bark  in  railroads.  Her  13*2  miles  of  railroads  yielded  during  the  last  year, 
five  hundred  and  forty-three  thousand  seven  hundred  and  fifteen  dollars, 
while  her  591  miles  of  canals  yielded  but  four  hundred  and  fifteen  thou¬ 
sand  six  hundred  and  thirty-one  dollars. 

Your  committee  have  alluded  to  this  state  of  things  abroad,  to  direct 
attention  to  the  part  that  Illinois,  at  no  distant  day,  is  destined  to  take 
in  these  grand  designs,  and  to  the  incalculable  benefits  which  she  can¬ 
not  fail  to  deriveYrom  them,  by  a  timely  and  judicious  legislation  on  her 
part. 

What  amount  of  travel  and  tonnage  the  concentrated  lines  of  internal 
communication  from  the  Atlantic  seaboard  to  the  Mississippi  river  may 
throw  across  our  territory,  and  over  our  public  works,  no  one  can  now 
conjecture.  An  immense  territory  stretches  beyond  our  western  bor¬ 
der,  which, at  present,  is  comparatively  uninhabited  by  the  white  man; 
but,  if  like  causes  continue  to  produce  like  results,  a  slight  retrospection 
of  the  progress  of  the  settlements  of  the  territory  northwest  of  the  Ohio, 
during  the  last  quarter  of  a  century,  will  be  sufficient  to  indicate  what 
advantages  our  public  works  may  derive  from  the  settlement  of  this  vast 
domain. 

Your  committee  unfortunately  have  not  been  able  to  procure  the 
data  to  arrive  at  the  present  imports  and  exports  of  Illinois.  They  find 


r 


16 


that  the  arrivals  at  Chicago  amount  at  least  to  400  annually.  If  150 
tons  be  taken  as  the  average  of  each,  it  will  be  -  60,000  tons 

The  steamboat  arrivals  of  the  Illinois  may  be  assumed 
to  be  300  annually ,  which,  at  an  average  of  120  tons, 
will  give  ------  36,000 

Of  the  Wabash,  200  arrivals,  at  120  tons  each  (half  to 

Illinois.)  -  -  -  -  -  12,000 

Transhipped  at  Louisville  and  Evansville  -  -  10,000 

Of  the  Ohio,  say  -  -  -  -  12,000 

Transhipped  at  St.  Louis,  for  Illinois,  say  -  -  20,000 

Ports  in  Illinois,  on  the  Mississippi  river,  at  Chester, 

Alton,  Grafton,  Quincy,  Warsaw,  Galena,  &c.,  say  60,000 


Total  -----  210,000 

The  whole  number  of  steamboats  navigating  the  waters  of  the  Missis¬ 
sippi  and  its  tributaries  is  estimated  at  about  400;  averaging  these  at 
200  tons  per  boat,  and  each  boat  making  20  trips  per  year,  it  would  give 
the  whole  tonnage  carried  by  steamboats  in  one  direction  at  1,600, 000 
tons.  If  this  estimate  is  approximately  correct,  the  above  estimate  of 
210,000  tons  for  the  State  of  Illinois  is  not  more  than  a  fair  proportion 
of  this  total  amount. 

The  exports  of  the  State  cannot  be  accurately  stated,  for  the  want  of 
the  proper  statistical  information — and  your  committee  must  again  re¬ 
sort  to  data  of  a  general  character.  The  Wabash  and  its  tributaries 
drain  a  country  about  equal  to  one-third  of  the  State  of  Illinois.  It  is 
pretty  well  ascertained  that  a  season  of  tolerable  crops  sends  out  of  that 
river  at  lesst  3,000  flatboats,  averaging  60  tons  each,  making  a  total  of 
1SO.OO0  tons. 

The  superior  facilities  of  making  farms,  which  a  prairie  offers  over  a 
heavily  timbered  country,  will  enable  the  population  cf  Illinois,  very 
early,  to  arrive  at  that  point  which  will  afford  the  greatest  exportation 
the  soil  is  capable  of  producing.  From  this  view  of  the  subject,  and  of 
the  data  drawn  from  the  exports  of  the  Wabash  valley,  your  commit¬ 
tee  believe  that,  by  the  time  the  railroads  are  in  operation  in  Illinois,  the 
exports  will  not  fall  short  of  350, 000  tons. 

To  determine  whether  or  not  this  amount  of  tonnage  would  not  be  an 
exorbitant  remuneration  for  the  labor  of  a  population  of  800,000,  which 
it  is  presumed  will  inhabit  Illinois  in  1846,  your  committee  will  insti¬ 
tute  an  inquiry  into  the  probable  value  of  the  amount  of  exports. 

The  staple  productions  of  Illinois,  and  which  will  always  form  the 
bulk  of  her  exports,  are,  wheat,  flour,  corn,  pork,  beef,  tobacco  and  lead. 
Taking  these  six  articles  of  exports,  their  average  value  may  be  ascer¬ 
tained  near  enough  for  the  present  purpose,  as  follows,  viz: 


17 


1.  Wheat  or  flour,  per  ton 

- 

- 

- 

,<650  00 

2.  Corn,  per  ton 

- 

- 

w 

15  00 

3.  Pork,  per  ton 

- 

- 

- 

75  00 

4.  Beef,  per'ton 

- 

- 

- 

65  00 

A.  Tobacco,  per  ton 

- 

- 

- 

80  00 

6.  Lead,  per  ton 

- 

- 

- 

75  00 

6  |  360  00 

Average  value,  per  ton  -  -  -  $60  00 

The  above  amount  of  exportation — 350, 00O  tons  .as¬ 
sumed  as  the  maximum  for  the  whole  State  of  Illinois 
in  1846,  would,  at  $60  per  ton,  amount  to  $“21,000,000 

The  western  district  of  the  State  of  New  York,  although  still  increas¬ 
ing  in  population,  sends  down  the  Erie  canal  an  annual  export  of  twenty 
millions  of  dollars,  consisting  principally  of  agricultural  products.  Hence, 
an  amount  of  $2 1 ,000,000  of  exports  for  this  State  in  1846,  cannot,  in 
view  of  this  fact,  be  considered  an  extravagant  estimate. 

What  portion  of  the  imports  or  exports  of  the  State  will  probably  pass 
over  our  public  works,  is  another  question  of  primary  importance  to  be 
determined,  in  order  to  arrive  at  the  probable  revenue  to  be  derived  from 
this  source. 

One  great  argument  urged  in  favor  of  our  present  system  of  internal 
improvements  is,  that  by  concentrating  all  the  works  at  the  mouth  of 
the  Ohio,  every  portion  of  our  State  can  send  oft'  her  products  at  the 
season  of  the  year  when  there  is  the  least  competition  in  the  southern 
market.  That;  this  valuable  feature  in  the  system  of  the  public  works 
of  Illinois  will  tend  to  induce  an  immense  amount  of  transportation, 
which  would  otherwise  float  upon  the  rivers  to  market,  there  can  exist 
no  doubt.  In  addition  to  this,  it  is  to  be  considered  that  the  timber, 
suitable  for  the  construction  of  flatboats,  is  gradually  disappearing  in  the 
interior  with  the  settlement  of  the  country.  On  the  other  hand,  when 
the  produce  reaches  the  mouth  of  the  Ohio,  it  will  then  find  uninter¬ 
rupted  means  of  transit  to  the  lower  market  in  steamboats,  and  in  large 
and  capacious  flatboats  which  w ill  have  performed  the  service  of  trans* 
porting  salt  from  the  Upper  Ohio,  for  the  supply  of  the  interior  of  Illinois, 
and  the  country  drained  by  the  Upper  Mississippi  and  its  tributaries. 
Independent  of  these  considerations,  it  will  be  borne  in  mind  that  a  large 
portion  of  the  exports  will  be  produced  in  the  interior  of  the  State,  and 
must  And  its  way  to  the  navigable  rivers,  on  every  road  in  the  system, 
to  seek  a  market;  so  that  it  is  reasonable  to  estimate  that  full  one-half  of 
the  total  imports  and  exports  of  the  State  will  pass  over  the  railroad  lines. 

Another  important  item  of  tonnage  should  not  be  lost  sight  of  in  esti¬ 
mating  the  probable  revenue  of  the  roads.  The  interior  ot  Illinois  will 
require  an  immense  quantity  of  fencing  and  building  lumber,  that  mast 
he  transported  from  the  rivers  to  the  prairies,  to  supply  this  demand. 
This  lumber  will  come  from  lake  Michigan,  the  Upper  Mississippi,  the 
Wabash  and  the  Ohio;  so  that  almost,  if  not  all,  the  roads  in  the  system 
will  command  more  or  less  of  this  important  trade. 

2 


♦ 


18 


From  the  foregoing  views  of  the  prospective  trade,  in  which  our  public 
works  are  destined  to  participate,  jour  committee  have  made  out  the 
following  estimate  of  the  probable  revenue  to  be  derived  from  the  whole 
system  when  completed. 

The  lowest  estimate  which  the  committee  have  been  able  to  make  for 
the  amount  of  the  foreign  and  local  travel  and  transportation  on  the 
railroads,  is  25  persons  per  day  in  each  direction,  and  20  tons  of  imports 
and  exports,  in  each  direction,  for  300  days  in  the  year — the  total  length 
of  the  roads  being  1,342  miles. 

25  passengers  in  each  direction,  on  1,342  miles,  for  300  days, 


a:  5  cents  per  mile,  -  -  -  $1 ,006,500 

20  tons  in  each  direction,  at  5  cents  per  mile,  per  ton,  805,200 

1,342  miles  of  daily  mails,  at  §125  per  mile,  per  year,  167,750 

Water  rents  and  tolls  on  river  improvements,  -  -  50,000 


Total,  .....  §2,029,4$p 

Deduct  expenses: 


Interest  on  $14,000,000  -  -  -  §840, 000 

Motive  power,  superintendents,  repairs,  laborers, 

and  wear  and  tear  of  machinery,  $655  per  mile, 

on  1,342  miles,  ....  878,010 

- 1,718,010 

Yearly  balance,  -  -  -  $311,440 

By  averaging  the  rate  of  speed  of  the  above  transportation  at  80 
miles  per  day,  the  quantity  of  tonnage,  necessary  to  give  the  above 
amount  of  tolls,  will  be  200,000  tons  per  annum. 

The  above  estimated  annual  receipts  on  the  railroads  would  be  at  the 
rate  of  $1,475  per  mile. 

The  Ohio  canal,  333  miles  long,  in  1838,  paid  $1,093  per  mile,  with  between 
eight  and  nine  months’  operation. 

The  Pennsylvania  canal  between  Philadelphia  and  Pittsburgh,  (which  suffered 
from  an  extensive  breach  during  the  last  year,)  yielded  only  about  $1,000  per  mile. 

The  New  York  canals  in  1836,  after  reducing  her  tolls,  to  compete  success¬ 
fully  with  the  Pennsylvania  lines,  and  having  various  railroads  in  their  country 
to  take  off  the  travel  from  the  canal,  yielded  $2,000  per  mile  nett  profit,  after 
deducting  expenses  of  collection,  maintenance,  and  repairs. 

The  Pennsylvania  railroad,  132  miles  in  length,  and  the  motive  power  thereon, 
paid  in  1838,  $4,1 19  per  mile.  The  portion  of  the  last  named  works  between 
Philadelphia  and  Columbia,  82  miles  long,  paid  in  1838,  after  deducting  the 
maintenance  of  the  motive  power  thereon,  and  defraying  the  cost  of  supervision 
and  repairs,  $210,393,  or  $2,567  per  mile, equivalent  to  seven  per  cent,  on  the 
total  cost  of  this  work. 

In  view  of  these  results  on  other  similar  works,  your  committee  entertain  the 
belief  that  their  estimate  of  the  gross  receipts  on  the  railroads  of  Illinois,  at 
$1,475  per  mile  per  annum,  is  sufficiently  reasonable. 

In  connection  with  the  subject  of  the  probable  amount  of  business  and  profits 
on  the  railroad  system  of  Illinois,  it  should  be  borne  in  mind,  that  the  works  of 
internal  improvements  in  other  States  have,  for  the  most  part,  greatly  exceeded 
in  first  cost,  per  mile,  those  projected  in  Illinois.  Large  expenditures  of  money 
have  been  made  on  comparatively  short  lines  of  work :  and  the  tolls  being 
charged  by  the  mile,  the  ratio  between  the  amount  of  business  and  actual  re- 


19 


ceipts  on  the  one  hand,  and  the  per  centage  on  the  costs  of  the  work  on  the  other, 
is  very  great.  A  railroad  or  canal  of  the  same  length,  and  costing  $40,000  per 
mile,  would  have  to  command  four  times  the  amount  of  business,  to  nett  the  same 
per  centage  as  would  a  road  costing  but  $10,000  per  mile;  admitting  the  wear 
and  tear,  the  motive  power,  supervision  and  contingent  expenses  to  be  the  same 
in  both  cases.  But  this  cannot  be;  for  as  the  amount  of  business  is  increased 
on  the  road,  the  contingent  expenses  of  every  description  advance  in  proportion, 
so  that  the  road  costing  $40,000  per  mile  must  necessarily  do  at  least  five  times 
the  amount  of  business  that  would  be  required  of  a  road  costing  but  $10,000  per 
mile,  to  pay  the  same  per  centage  on  the  capital  invested  in  their  construction, 
the  tolls  being  the  same.  Moreover,  the  money  expended  on  roads  of  cheap 
construction  will  extend  them  much  further  over  the  country,  accommodate  a 
greater  number  of  people  and  interests,  and  command  a  much  larger  local  trade. 

Take,  for  instance,  the  Philadelphia  and  Columbia  railroad  above  referred  to. 
This  line  of  work  is  eighty-two  miles  long,  and  cost  near  three  and  one  quarter 
millions  of  dollars,  or  near  $40,000  per  mile.  This  road  commands  the  local  trade 
and  travel  of  only  82  miles  of  country.  Whereas  this  sum,  expended  in  the 
construction  of  railroads  over  the  open  and  comparatively  level  prairies  of  Illinois, 
would  command  the  local  trade  and  travel  of  upwards  of  300  miles  of  country, 
and  diffuse  its  equal  benefits  to  four  times  the  population  that  a  road,  costing 
$40,000  per  mile,  would  do. 

The  foregoing  are  the  estimates  of  the  probable  revenue  to  be  derived  from 
the  railroads,  as  predicated  on  the  ordinary  rates  of  tolls  charged  on  similar 
works  in  other  States.  On  most  of  these  works,  and  especially  on  those  in  the 
several  States  competing  for  the  commerce  of  the  West,  the  rates  of  tolls  are, 
and  always  must  be,  kept  down  by  that  competition.  But  the  works  of  Illinois 
will  not  have  to  contend  with  any  such  competition ;  and  the  whole  of  the  works 
being  under  the  control  of  the  State,  it  will  be  within  her  power  to  regulate  the 
tolls  to  meet  the  exigencies  of  the  revenue  and  expenses.  A  discriminating  toll 
can  be  charged  on  different  species  of  transportation;  the  exports  of  her  pro¬ 
ducts  can  be  protected,  and  a  revenue  raised  from  the  imports,  and  from  the 
foreign  commerce  and  travel  which  it  may  be  the  interest  of  the  citizens  of 
other  States  to  give  to  our  public  works;  and,  generally,  to  regulate  the  whole 
rates  of  tolls,  so  as  to  sustain  the  system.  And  it  is  believed  by  your  commit¬ 
tee,  that  a  much  higher  rate  of  tolls  may  be  charged,  if  necessary  to  produce  a 
revenue,  than  their  calculations  exhibit;  and  the  works  will  still  afford  an  im¬ 
mense  saving  to  the  people  of  the  State,  and  at  the  same  time  preserve  a  suc¬ 
cessful  competition  with  all  other  modes  of  transportation  end  travel. 

There  is  another  view  in  regard  to  the  probable  revenue  of  the  works,  which 
your  committee  will  notice. 

The  whole  system, as  at  present  arranged,  enables  every  part  to  contribute  to 
the  support  and  success  of  the  whole.  If  there  should  be  any  of  the  branches 
of  doubtful  utility  in  a  fiscal  point  of  view,  when  separately  considered,  yet  the 
travel  and  transportation  generated  by  these  lateral  roads,  when  accumulated  on 
the  main  lines  and  passing  over  them,  will  constitute  the  direct  and  legitimate 
means  of  rendering  the  whole  system  profitable.  This  state  of  things  is  said 
to  exist  in  reference  to  the  canal  system  of  New  York.  The  lateral  or  branch 
canals,  considered  separately  and  apart  from  the  whole,  do  not  yield  a  revenue 
sufficient  to  pay  the  interest  on  the  costs  of  their  construction ;  and  it  is  said 
the  main  line  would  not  be  profitable  without  them ;  yet,  when  the  whole  is 
taken  together,  it  forms  one  of  the  most  profitable  systems  of  public  works  in  this 
or  any  other  country.  The  reason  of  this  is  obvious.  The  main  line  accommo¬ 
dates,  comparatively,  but  a  limited  portion  of  country,  but  when  the  arms  or  late¬ 
ral  branches  are  thrown  out  into  an  extensive  region  of  country,  they  generate 


20 


a  commerce  for  the  main  stem  that  would  not  otherwise  pass  over  it,  and  this 
additional  trade,  combined  with  that  of  the  main  line,  forms  a  mighty  mass  of 
business,  and  renders  the  whole  system  immensely  productive  and  profitable. 

In  regard  to  the  profits  to  be  derived  from  the  transportation  of  the  United 
States  mails,  your  committee  entertain  the  opinion  that  their  estimate  is  extremely 
reasonable.  It  cannot  be  otherwise  than  that  several  most  important  mail  routes 
must  be  established  across  our  State:  and  their  importance  must  yearly  increase 
with  the  settlement  of  the  great  western  country  beyond  the  Mississippi.  And 
the  route  from  north  to  south  must,  from  the  nature  of  things,  be  of  immense 
importance  so  soon  as  the  communication  is  once  opened  from  the  northern 
States  and  Territories  to  the  mouth  of  the  Ohio;  and  thence,  by  uninterrupted 
steamboat  navigation,  to  the  great  commercial  emporium  of  the  Mississippi  valley. 
The  mails  of  the  United  States  must  be  carried  on  these  important  routes,  or 
every  particle  of  its  business  will  be  anticipated,  and  consequently  destroyed, 
by  the  expedition  of  the  railroad  communications.  Then  there  would  be  no 
other  alternative  than  for  the  Government  to  pay  for  the  transportation  of  her 
mails,  on  these  expeditious  lines  of  communication,  any  reasonable  compensa¬ 
tion  the  State  might  demand.  The  price  per  mile,  of  $125,  as  estimated  by  the 
committee,  very  little  exceeds  the  amount  paid  for  daily  mails  on  the  common 
roads,  at  the  ordinaty  speed;  and  it  will  scarcely  be  questioned  that  this  estimate 
is  within  all  reasonable  limits. 

The  committee  have  thus  attempted  to  demonstrate  the  existence  of  a  suffi¬ 
cient  amount  of  transportation  and  travel  in  the  State  to  sustain,  by  its  tolls,  the 
public  works,  when  they  are  put  into  full  operation.  They  will  close  this  branch 
of  their  investigation,  by  giving  the  following  statistical  exhibits  of  the  extent, 
costs,  and  actual  business  of  some  of  the  principal  works  in  the  United  States; 
which  exhibits,  your  committee  believe,  may  be  useful  in  the  examination  of 
this  important  subject. 

Abstract  of  the  Boats  that  have  passed,  and  Tolls  received  on  the  Louisville  and 

Portland  Canal,  from  1831  to  1837. 


Year. 

Number  of 
Steamboats. 

: 

Flat  and 
Keelboats. 

Tons. 

Amount  received  for 
tolls. 

1831 

406 

421 

76,323 

$12,750  77 

1832 

453 

179 

70,109 

25,756  12 

1833 

875 

710 

169,885 

60,736  92 

1834 

938 

623 

162,000 

61,848  17 

1835* 

1,256 

355 

200,413 

80,165  24 

1836 

1,182 

260 

182,220 

88,343  23 

1837 

1,501 

165 

242,374 

145,424  69 

6,611 

2,713 

1,103,324 

475,025  14 

21 


Length  and  cost  of  several  improvements  in  other  States ,  and  the  amount  of  tolls 
received  on  each  in  1837,  taken  from  official  documents. 


Designation. 

Length  in  miles 

Total  cost. 

Cost  per  mile. 

Tolls  in  1837. 

New  York  canals, 

655 

$11,962,711 

$18,264 

$1,293,129 

Pennsylvania  State  ca¬ 
nals  and  railroads, 

709-1 

18,830,625 

26,541 

975,350 

Ohio  canals, 

406 

5,356,150 

13,192 

355,166 

Lehigh  navigation, 
Schuykill  navigation, 

46  f 

108 

1,546,095 

3,187,383 

33,071 

29,513 

149,267 

604,189 

Statement  of  tolls  collected  upon  the  State  Canals  of  New  York ,  Pennsylvania , 
Ohio ,  and  upon  the  Schuylkill  navigation  in  Pennsylvania,  from  1818  to  1837. 


Years. 

NeAV  York. 

Pennsylvania. 

Ohio. 

Schuylkill  navi¬ 
gation. 

1818 

$233 

1819 

— 

— 

— 

1,203 

1820 

$5,437 

— 

— 

803 

1821 

14,388 

— 

— 

1,792 

1822 

64,072 

— 

— 

1,054 

1823 

152,958 

— 

— 

1,964 

1824 

340,761 

— 

— 

635 

1825 

568,112 

— 

— 

15,775 

1826 

762,003 

— 

— 

43,108 

1827 

859,058 

— 

— 

58,149 

1828 

838,444 

— 

— 

87,171 

1829 

813,137 

— 

— 

120,039 

1830 

1,056,922 

$27,012 

_  / 

148,165 

1831 

1,223,801 

38,241 

— 

134,005 

1832 

1,229,483 

56,909 

— 

264,829 

1833 

1,463,715 

151,419 

$181,954 

325,488 

1834 

1,339,799 

309,789 

210,018 

299,841 

1835 

1,548,972 

674,357 

232,894 

433,643 

1836 

1,614,680 

837,805 

257,925 

522,633 

1837 

1,293,129 

975,350 

355,166 

604,189 

Note. — The  tolls  on  the  New  York  works  have  undergone  a  gradual 
reduction  for  several  of  the  last  years;  and  the  receipts  were  reduced, 
in  1837,  by  accidental  causes. 


22 


✓ 

Another  question  of  importance  is,  whether  the  railroads  will  possess 
the  ability  to  command  the  travel  and  transportation  which  may  exist 
in  the  State,  and  to  compete  successfully  for  it  with  other  means  of 
transit. 

So  far  as  it  regards  the  abilities  of  the  railroads  to  secure  the  travel 
and  light  transportation,  the  committee  deem  it  unnecessary  to  trouble 
the  House  with  an  argument  in  detail  on  the  subject.  The  peculiar 
adaptation  of  railways  for  the  conveyance  of  passengers  and  light  trans¬ 
portation  is  so  well  understood  that  little  need  be  said  in  support  of  it. 

If  any  elucidation  in  support  of  this  position  was  required,  the  committee 
think  that  the  mention  of  the  fact  that  a  proposition  to  construct  a 
railway  from  New  York  to  Albany — which  project  is  now  about  being 
put  into  execution — would  be  sufficient.  This  road  will  be  constructed 
by  private  enterprise,  for  the  purpose  of  yielding  a  profit  to  its  owners, 
and  at  a  cost  of  about  $40,000  per  mile.  It  will  run  parallel  with  one  of 
the  finest  rivers  in  the  continent,  and  which  is  as  well  supplied  with 
commodious,  safe,  and  expeditious  steamboat  accommodations,  as  any 
other  in  the  world;  and  perhaps  on  no  line  of  communication,  of  equal 
extent,  is  the  price  of  travelling  so  cheap  as  it  is  on  that  river.  Other 
instances  of  a  similar. character  might  be  referred  to:  but  the  committee 
deem  this  sufficient  for  their  present  purpose. 

Perhaps  in  no  country,  or  in  any  age,  or  to  any  people,  was  the  axiom, 
“that  time  is  money”  more  applicable  than  to  the  people  of  the  United 
States  at  the  present  day.  Comparatively  speaking,  there  are  few  of 
our  citizens  possessed  of  large  and  overgrown  estates,  and  therefore  men 
of  leisure;  but  on  the  contrary,  the  great  mass  of  our  people  are  depending 
on  their  own  active  exertions,  industry  and  enterprise.  Despatch  and 
speed,  in  every  ramification  of  the  business  of  life,  are  almost  the  very  con¬ 
dition  of  their  existence.  The  improvements  in  the  means  of  convey¬ 
ance,  and  the  astonishing  annihilation  of  time  and  space  produced  by 
them  within  the  last  few  years,  so  far  from  satisfying  the  travelling  com¬ 
munity,  has  only  tended  to  incite  an  increased  desire  for  greater  rapidity 
of  movement.  This  is  so  obviously  correct  that  the  steamboat  of  the 
greatest  speed  is  almost  universally  preferred,  even  at  the  risk  of  life 
itself.  To  the  commercial  community,  which  forms  the  great  mass  of 
travel,  it  is  of  advantage,  in  every  point  of  view,  to  perform  their  journies 
and  voyages  with  the  greatest  practicable  expedition;  and  hence,  that 
mode  both  of  travel  and  transportation  which  offers  the  greatest  certainty 
and  speed,  and  liable  to  the  least  casualities  and  delays,  will  always  be 
preferred.  So  long,  then,  as  this  disposition  to  embrace  the  safest  and 
most  expeditious  means  of  conveyance  continues,  there  can  be  no  rea¬ 
sonable  doubt  entertained  of  the  capatity  of  our  railroads  to  compete 
with  all  other  modes  of  travel,  for  the  transportation  of  passengers  trav¬ 
elling  in  the  direction  of  any  of  their  routes. 

In  addition  to  the  ordinary  travel  of  the  country  that  always  seeks 
the  public  conveyances,  the  railroads  will  induce  an  immense  amount 
of  local  travel,  which  would  not  otherwise  exist,  or  be  performed  by 
means  of  private  conveyances.  Even  before  the  introduction  of  rail¬ 
roads  in  England,  it  had  become  a  saying  “ that  a  man  could  not  afford  to 
walk  ”  Such  were  the  facility  and  cheapness  of  conveyance  afforded 


23 


by  their  numerous  and  splendid  canals,  that  the  extra  time  consumed, 
and  the  expense  of  performing  a  journey  on  foot,  cost  more  than  the  fare 
on  the  canals.  So  it  might  be  said  in  Illinois,  if  her  railways  were  in 
operation,  “that  a  man  could  not  afford  to  ride  in  his  own  conveyance;” 
for  the  time  and  actual  expenses  he  would  save  by  travelling  on  the  rail¬ 
ways,  over  and  above  the  cost  of  performing  the  journey  in  his  own  con¬ 
veyance,  would,  in  most  instances,  make  it  his  interest  and  induce  him 
to  prefer  the  former. 

A  journey  of  100  miles  on  horseback  for  the  purpose  of  transacting 
business  at  Alton,  Chicago,  St.  Louis,  or  any  other  place,  would  require 
three  days’  travel  in  each  direction,  making  six  days’  expense  for  man 
and  iiorse,  at  $1  per  day,  is  -  -  -  -  $6  00 

2  days’  time  and  expenses  of  horse  whilst  attending  to  the 

business  of  the  journey,  75  cents  -  -  l  50 

6  days’  time  of  man  and  horse,  at  $1  50  -  -  9  00 

$  1 6  50 

By  railroad — fare  200  miles  -  $10  00 

1  days’  time  on  the  journey  in  each  di¬ 
rection  $1  -  -  -  2  00 

2  meals  on  the  journey  -  -  1  00 

- -  13  00 

$3  50 

\  ■  - - 

Making  three  dollars  and  fifty  cents  in  favor  of  the  railway  conveyance, 
by  putting  the  expenses  of  the  journey  on  horseback,  (which  is  the 
cheapest  mode  of  private  conveyance)  at  the  lowest  rates,  and  valuing 
the  time  of  the  person  at  the  small  sum  of  one  dollar  per  day.  If  these 
views  of  the  subject  be  correct,  there  cannot  exist  a  doubt  of  the  entire 
ability  of  the  railroads  to  come  into  the  most  successful  competition  for 
a  large  share  of  the  travel  of  the  country. 

The  last  inquiry  the  committee  design  to  institute  into  the  financial 
abilities  and  business  capacities  of  the  railroads,  is  in  reference  to  the 
tonnage  which  it  has  been  shown  will  exist  in  the  State  at  the  time  of 
their  completion. 

The  minimum  average  rate  of  transportation,  on  our  common  roads, 
is  not  less  than  $1  per  hundred  pounds  per  hundred  miles, 
or  per  ton  -  $20  00 

The  ordinary  rates  of  toll  and  transportation  on  railways 

being  5  cents  per  mile  per  ton,  for  one  hundred  miles,  is  5  00 

Balance  in  favor  of  railroads  -  -  -  $15  00 

Thus,  at  the  lowest  possible  rates  that  a  common  team,  during  the  sea¬ 
son  of  the  best  roads,  can  perform  the  transportation,  there  would  be  a 
clear  saving  of  money  of  $15  per  ton,  besides  the  advantage  of  the  supe¬ 
rior  speed,  certainty,  and  safety  of  the  railway  conveyance. 

The  staple  productions  of  Illinois  must,  for  the  most  part,  be  exceedingly 
bulky,  and  for  this  reason  they  will  not  bear  transportation  on  common 
roads  from  the  interior  to  the  rivers;  which  they  might  do  on  the  rail¬ 
ways. 


24 


\ 


Take,  for  instance,  the  article  of  corn,  which  is  the  cheapest  of  all  our 
productions  compared  with  its  tonnage,  and  it  will  be  lound  that  even 
this  article  wouidbear  transportation,  on  the  railways,  from  the  extreme 
interior  to  the  rivers.  From  an  inspection  of  the  map,  it  will  be  seen 
that,  if  the  present  system  of  railroads  is  carried  out,  the  roads  will  bring 
most  portions  of  the  interior  of  the  State  within  70  or  SO  miles  of  some 
navigable  stream. 

Then  the  transportation  of  one  ton  of  corn,  or  34  bushels,  a  distance  of 
80  miles,  at  the  rate  of  five  cents  per  ton  per  mile,  would  be, 


per  ton  -  -  r  -  ■  $  1  00 

or  per  bushel  -  -  -  -  *  lli 

The  cost  of  transportation,  for  a  distance  of  80 

miles,  of  a  bushel  of  wheat,  is  -  11 

Of  100  pounds  of  tobacco  ...  20 

Of  1  barrel  of  pork  or  beef  -  60 

Of  l  barrel  of  flour  -  40 

Of  1  bushel  of  salt  -  10 


And  all  other  articles  of  produce  and  consumption  in  the  same  proportion. 

The  cost  of  the  transportation  of  pork  and  beef  on  the  common  roads 
forces  the  counties  in  the  interior  of  the  State  to  resort  to  driving  the 
animals  to  the  trading  towns  on  the  river,  for  slaughter.  The  expense, 
loss  of  time,  loss  in  the  weight  of  the  animals,  and  other  obvious  disad¬ 
vantages  occasioned  by  this  mode  of  going  to  market,  could  very  readily 
he  shown  to  exceed  the  co’st  of  carrying  the  salt  into  the  interior  on  the 
railroads,  and  of  transporting  thereon  the  beef,  pork,  and  bacon  after  it 
is  cured  and  packed.  All  experience  has  shown  that,  as  fast  as  the 
means  of  cheap  transportation  is  extended  into  the  interior  of  a  country, 
commercial  establishments  spring  up  along  their  lines;  capital  comes  in, 
and  competition  in  trade,  the  life  of  business  in  all  countries,  is  excited. 
The  producer  then  finds  a  ready  market,  comparatively  at  his  own  door, 
for  his  surplus  produce,  and  at  as  high  a  price  as  he  could  obtain  in  the 
city  or  large  trading  town  at  the  termini  of  the  road  or  canal;  deducting 
only  the  bare  costs  of  transportation.  He  thus  avoids  the  loss  of  time,  and 
escapes  the  risks  and  vexation  of  seeking  a  foreign,  and  perhaps  glutted 
market,  for  his  produce.  He  is  enabled  thereby  to  concentrate  his  ener¬ 
gies  and  attention  to  his  domestic  concerns,  and  avoids  the  loss  and 
derangement  of  affairs  incident  to  being  withdrawn  from  home.  More¬ 
over,  it  most  frequently  happens  that  the  common  roads  of  the  country 
are  in  the  worst  condition,  at  the  very  season  of  the  year  when  the  far¬ 
mer  is  most  at  leisure  with  his  teams;  and  it  is  not  unlikely,  also,  to  hap¬ 
pen  that  the  market  may  be  most  favorable  at  the  very  time  when  his 
domestic  engagements  are  the  most  pressing  on  his  hands. 

And  it  is  believed  that  the  railroads  of  Illinois,  by  being  brought  into  op¬ 
eration  at  so  early  a  day,  will  not  very  materially  affect  any  settled  inter¬ 
ests  of  the  people.  In  the  older  States,  where  the  transportation  had, 
for  a  long  series  of  years,  been  performed  by  the  ordinary  teams  of  the 
country,  there  had  grown  up  immense  individual  interests,  with  which  the 
sudden  introduction  of  the  public  improvements  did,  for  a  time,  injuri¬ 
ously  conflict.  But,  in  this  State,  no  very  extensive  preparations 


25 


have  yet  been  made  in  reference  to  the  carrying  trade  of  the  interior; 
and  what  capital  shall  have  been  invested  in  teams  and  wagons  can  be 
transferred  to  the  purchase  and  improvement  of  real  estate,  and  brought 
into  the  most  useful  of  all  applications — the  cultivation  of  the  soil. 
And  it  is  thought  tliat  agricultural  pursuits,  with  a  ready  and  certain 
market,  will  be  the  most  profitable,  as  they  are  the  most  honorable,  in 
Illinois. 

Under  all  these  considerations,  and  numerous  others  that  might  be 
alluded  to,  it  can  scarcely  be  doubted  that  it  will  be  the  interest  of  the 
agricultural  portion  of  the  community,  either  directly  or  indirectly,  to 
give  their  business  of  transportation  to  the  railroads;  and  that  there  is 
every  just  reason  to  believe  that  the  railroads  will  be  resorted  to  for  the 
purpose  of  transporting  the  great  mass  of  the  exports  as  well  as  the 
imports  of  the  State. 

Your  committee  have  thus  endeavored  to  show  that  the  prospective 
revenue  of  the  State,  and  of  the  public  works,  will  be  sufficient  to  carry 
on,  complete,  and  sustain  the  system,  without  the  necessity  of  resorting 
to  burdensome  taxation  on  the  people;  and  that  as  this  and  the  neigh¬ 
boring  States  and  Territories  increase  in  population  and  improvements, 
the  works  must,  from  the  geographical  position  of  the  State,  and  the 
prospective  business  on  them,  yield  a  handsome  revenue.  But  it  is  not 
with  the  sole  prospect  of  revenue  that  a  system  of  public  works  should 
be  undertaken  by  the  State.  There  is  a  higher  standard  by  which  their 
value  should  be  estimated.  If  this  system  should  be  calculated  to  in¬ 
duce  an  immense  influx  of  industrious  and  enterprising  emigrants  to  our 
borders — to  cause  the  wide  and  beautiful  domains  of  this  State  to  teem 
with  population,  and  to  be  filled  with  improvements — if  property  shall 
be  advanced  in  value — if  incalculable  savings  to  an  industrious  people, 
in  time  and  in  the  costs  of  the  transportation  of  imports  and  exports, 
should  result  from  it — if  information  of  the  state  of  markets  and  gen¬ 
eral  intelligence  should  be  constantly  kept  up  and  widely  diffused 
amongst  the  people  by  means  of  the  railroads — if  social  intercourse  and 
domestic  happiness,  should  be  promoted  by  means  of  the  safe  and  rapid 
transit  of  absent  relatives  and  friends — if  an  immense  loss  in  human  life 
and  of  property,  yearly  occurring  by  steamboat  accidents  on  our  rivers, 
should  be  avoided — if  the  reputation  of  the  State  should  be  advanced  at 
home  and  abroad — and  if  numerous  other  benefits  which  the  system 
promises  should  be  realized  from  it — then  your  committee  believe  that 
all  these  considerations  should  likewise  enter  into  the  account  when  the 
calculations  of  the  advantages  and  disadvantages  of  the  system  are  made; 
and  that  they  should  go  far  to  remove  the  objections  of  its  opponents, 
and  to  determine  its  real  value  to  the  State. 

The  present  is  emphatically  an  age  of  improvements;  and  their  on¬ 
ward  march  is  a  theme  of  the  deepest  interest  to  the  philanthropist  and 
statesman.  The  country  or  community  that  folds  its  arms  and  stands 
still,  amidst  the  general  progress  of  improvements  that  pervade  the 
world,  will  soon  be  left  behind,  to  regret  that  want  of  foresight  that  im¬ 
pelled  their  successful  competitors  on  to  greatness. 


26 


The  astonishing  applications  of  science  to  the  arts  of  life,  within  the 
last  few  years,  have  either  produced,  or  they  have  been  the  effect  of  a 
moral  i evolution  in  the  civilized  world.  During  the  close  of  the  18th, 
and  the  commencement  of  the  19th  century,  the  energies  and  produc¬ 
tive  usefulness  of  a  large  proportion  of  the  male  population  of  Europe 
were  wasted  in  wars.  Almost  countless  millions  were  expended;  and 
an  incalculable  destruction  of  human  life,  at  its  season  of  greatest  activi¬ 
ty  and  usefulness  was  thus  occasioned.  No  relict  of  this  vast  ex¬ 
penditure  of  life  and  money  was  left  to  benefit  posterity  and  add  to  the 
common  stock  of  human  happiness.  But  on  the  contrary,  distress  and 
ruin,  and  pauperism  hung  as  an  incubus  on  the  industry  of  the  succeed¬ 
ing  generation. 

The  continued  peace  of  Europe,  for  the  last  quarter  of  a  century,  has 
removed  the  checks  on  population  and  productive  industry  which 
had  prevailed  for  a  long  preceding  period.  The  immediate  consequence 
of  this  State  of  things  is,  that  the  arts  of  peace  have  been  more  exten¬ 
sively  cultivated;  population  has  rapidly  increased;  and  by  the  economy 
of  machinery,  the  products  of  human  labor  and  invention  have  been  as¬ 
tonishingly  augmented. 

Although  the  United  States,  during  the  wars  of  Europe,  enjoyed  the 
neutral  carrying  trade  of  the  bclligerant  nations,  by  which  great  profits 
were  derived;  yet  it  is  not  difficult  to  perceive  that  this  country  has 
been  recently  more  extensively  benefitted  by  the  pacific  relations 
of  the  Old  World. 

The  producing  classes  of  society,  in  a  time  of  peace,  are  constantly  on 
the  increase,  and  the  savings  of  their  labor  form  the  substantial  capital 
of  all  countries.  These  savings  of  the  peaceful  labors  of  Ehrope  are 
continually  tending  to  amass  an  amount  of  surplus  capital,  which  can¬ 
not  find  employment  there.  Notwithstanding  extended  and  costly  pro¬ 
jects  of  internal  improvements,  in  Great  Brittain  and  on  the  continent 
of  Europe,  have  recently  been  undertaken  and  prosecuted;  yet  labor 
and  capital  are  still  abundant;  and  money  increases  faster  than  invest¬ 
ments  can  be  made.  New  and  varied  schemes  for  the  promotion  of  hu¬ 
man  happiness  are  daily  springing  up;  and  are  scarcely  projected,]  be¬ 
fore  we  hear  of  their  completion.  What  were  the  prophetic  phantoms 
of  yesterday  are  the  sober  realities  of  to-day;  so  rapid  is  the  transition 
from  design  to  execution.  Yet,  with  all  this  apparent  demand  for  capi¬ 
tal,  money  in  Europe  is  extremely  abundant  and  cheap. 

Perhaps  there  never  has  been  a  period,  since  the  time  that  Columbus 
presented  the  trophies  of  his  discoveries  at  the  feet  of  his  sovereigns,  to 
the  present  time,  that  the  American  continent  was  regarded  with  more 
interest  by  the  commercial  States  of  Europe.  The  trade  and  friend¬ 
ship  of  the  United  States  are  universally  desired,  and  our  credit,  as  a  peo¬ 
ple,  stands  high  and  unimpeached.  The  securities  of  the  States,  and  of 
incorporations,  are  held  by  capitalists  abroad  to  an  immense  amount,  and 
still  the  bonds  of  the  American  States  are  in  demand,  and  in  high  repute. 

The  object  of  your  committee  in  this  apparent  digression  from  their  sub¬ 
ject,  is  to  direct  attention  to  the  causes  which  have  produced  the  pres¬ 
ent  general  condition  of  the  money  market;  and  for  the  purpose  of  show¬ 
ing  the  probability  of  there  being  no  disappointment  in  obtaining  loans 
to  carry  on  the  public  works.  The  committee  believe  these  causes  to  be 


21 


i 


permanent,  and  will  continue  to  be  immensely  productive  of  surplus 
capital  so  long  as  they  continue  to  operate.  And  they  believe,  too, 
that  the  only  limit  of  the  credit  of  the  State  will  be  found  in  an  injudi¬ 
cious  application  of  her  funds  to  a  wasteful  expenditure  on  works  of 
costly  construction,  for  embellishment  rather  than  utility.  But  so  long 
as  a  judicious  economy  is  persevered  in,  and  useful  works  of  internal 
improvement  are  being  extended  to  develope  the  resources  of  the  re¬ 
motest  regions  ot  the  State,  and  to  accommodate  and  enrich  the  people, 
and  bring  into  active  operation  all  the  latent  elements  of  wealth  with 
which  our  State  abounds,  her  credit  will  never  suffer  in  the  estimation 
of  intelligent  capitalists. 

In  the  judgment  of  your  committee,  the  State  has  nothing  to  dread,  but 
every  thing  to  encourage  her  in  prosecuting,  with  becoming  vigor,  the 
great  enterprise  before  her. 

In  commencing  a  system  of  public  works,  the  State  of  Illinois  marks 
out  no  new  and  untrodden  path.  She  has  before  her  the  bright  exam¬ 
ples  of  many  of  her  sister  States,  and  all  the  benefit  of  their  experience. 
But  like  them,  too,  she  must  expect  to  encounter  discouragements.  She 
must  contend  with  the  opposition  of  acknowledged  opponents,  and  the  dis- 
pondency  of  friends.  The  wisest  heads  and  the  purest  hearts  were  found 
honestly  arrayed  against  the  policy  of  a  Clinton  in  projecting  and  executing 
the  great  canal  system  of  New  York.  Some  of  the  most  useful  and  profita¬ 
ble  public  works  in  this  country!  date  the  darkest  period  of  their  whole 
history  on  the  very  eve  of  the  bright  developments  of  their  true  value. 
For  instance,  a  portion  of  the  original  projectors  of  the  Lehigh  canal 
became  discouraged,  and  sold  out  their  interest  at  a  loss,  just  before  the 
stock  arrived  at  its  present  high  value.  It  is  a  matter  of  notoriety,  also, 
that  the  Louisville  and  Portland  Canal  Company  were  solicitous,  until  re¬ 
cently,  that  Congress  should  take  the  work  off  their  hands  as  a  National 
work,  apprehending  it  would  become  burdensome.  But  now  the  stock 
of  the  company  is  valuable. 

So  the  estimates  made  of  the  probable  value  and  practicability 
of  public  works,  and  of  the  great  improvements  of  the  age,  have  gen¬ 
erally  been  underrated  by  their  projectors  and  advocates.  In  one  of 
the  early  estimates  of  the  probable  tonnage  of  the  Schuylkill  canal,  in 
Pennsylvania,  is  found  “ten  thousand  bushels  of  coal  per  year.”  Yet 
this  canal,  in  1837,  sent  down  523,000  tons  of  this  article,  and  the  amount 
is  annually  on  the  increase. 

Within  the  last  five  years,  one  of  the  most  scientific  engineers  and 
writers  on  the  use  and  power  of  steam-engines  in  England,  ventured  an 
opinion,  before  a  committee  of  the  British  Parliament,  unfavorable  to  the 
practicability  of  the  steam  navigation  of  the  Atlantic.  Yet  we  now  see  r 
the  fallacy  of  this  opinion;  and  now  can  feel  the  State  pride  to  wit¬ 
ness  the  inventions  of  a  Fulton  successfully  applied  in  expediting  the 
commerce  of  the  world.  And  perhaps  the  day  is  not  far  distant  when 
the  vessels,  laden  at  the  docks  of  Liverpool,  will  discharge  their  cargoes 
at  the  mouth  of  the  Ohio. 

Your  committee  are  fully  aware  that  serious  apprehensions  are  felt 
by  many  ardent  friends  of  internal  improvement,  that  the  system  adopt¬ 
ed  in  Illinois  is  too  large  for  the  means  of  the  State.  But,  in  the  judg¬ 
ment  of  the  committee,  it  should  be  regarded  in  view  of  its  aggregate 


28 


cost,  and  not  as  to  its  extent  in  miles.  For  if  the  peculiar  adaptation  of 
the  face  of  our  State  to  the  construction  of  roads  renders  it  practicable 
to  construct  a  greater  extent  of  improvements  for  the  same  sum  of 
money  than  would  be  required  for  a  much  more  limited  extent  in  other 
countries,  it  forms  an  additional  argument  in  favor  of  the  system. 

One  of  the  highest  calculations  made  by  the  opponents  of  the  system 
of  its  probable  cost,  is  $20,000,000;  which  sum  will  be  due  and  payable 
after  the  year  1870.  If  the  value  of  the  aggregate  property  in  the 
State,  in  the  year  1856,  should  be  300,000,000  of  which  there  can  be 
no  doubt,  then  6§  cents  on  a  dollar  would  liquidate  the  whole  debt,  at 
that  time,  in  one  single  payment.  That  a  much  greater  proportion  of 
the  value  of  this  property  than  at  the  rate  of  6§  cents  to  the  dollar,  or 
its  one-fifteenth  part,  will  have  been  produced  by  the  construction  of  the 
works, your  committee  think  will  not  be  questioned.  Then  where  are  to 
be  found  the  ruinous  and  disastrous  consequences  of  the  system,  which 
some  apprehend?  All  seem  to  admit  the  propriety  of  establishing  some 
system  of  internal  improvements;  and  if  this  is  really  admitted,  where  is 
the  citizen  who  would  object  to  pledging  not  exceeding  6§  cents  on  the 
dollar  to  secure  the  capital  necessary  to  carry  out  such  a  system?  A 
person  who  would  borrow  a  sum  not  exceeding  one-fifteenth  of  his  estate, 
to  be  expended  in  the  improvement  of  the  remaining  fourteen-fifteenths, 
could  not  justly  be  charged  with  imprudence  in  the  ordinary  transac¬ 
tions  of  life.  Then  who  will  recoil  at  the  idea  of  leaving  this  debt  of  Q'i 
cents  to  the  dollar  for  posterity  to  liquidate? 

But  in  the  event  of  the  prosecution  of  the  system  under  the  provisions 
of  the  present  laws,  the  internal  improvement  debt,  that  we  shall  hand 
down  to  posterity,  will  not  be  payable  until  after  the  year  1870. 

In  legislating  for  the  people  on  whom  the  payment  of  this  debt  will 
devolve,  it  unquestionable  is  wisdom  to  endeavor  to  keep  in  view  their 
probable  condition  and  resources  to  rqeet  these  liabilities.  In  doing  this, 
we  can  only  judge  of  the  future  by  the  past.  Near  one  century  will 
then  have  elapsed  since  the  day  that  gave  birth  to  the  political  existence 
of  the  mighty  empire  of  States,  amongst  which,  Illinois  must  then  stand 
a  conspicuous  member.  When  that  eventful  day  dawned  on  this  conti¬ 
nent  it  found  only  a  few  weak  and  oppressed  colonies,  clustered  along 
the  Atlantic  shore.  All  the  vast  region  that  stretched  out  to  the  west, 
and  especially  the  tract  of  country  which  now  forms  the  northwestern 
States  and  Territories,  and  which  is  destined  soon  to  become  the  gran 
ary  of  the  Republic,  was  then  a  wild  and  uncultivated  wilderness.  Pow¬ 
erful  and  warlike  tribes  of  savages  peopled  this  vast  domain;  and  over 
the  beautiful  prairies  of  Illinois,  there  roamed,  in  countless  herds,  the 
elk  and  buffalo. 

It  is  easy  to  pursue  the  retrospect  of  the  past;  but  what  sanguine  tem¬ 
perament  will  dare  attempt  to  describe  the  contrast  that  a  century  will 
have  produced  on  this  continent?  Who  will  venture  an  estimate  of  the 
number  of  independent  freemen  in  Illinois,  that  will  hail  the  first  centen¬ 
nial  anniversary  of  American  freedom?  Where  will  then  be  found,  on 
the  fertile  plains  of  our  State,  the  least  remaining  vestige  of  the  Indi¬ 
an’s  sepulchre  that  the  white  man’s  plough  will  have  spared?  What 


29 


transformations  in  the  humble  cabins  of  the  enterprising  pioneer,  to 
stately  dwellings,  will  then  have  been  made?  What  temples  dedicated 
to  religion,  to  science,  and  to  humanity,  will  then  have  been  erected? 
And  who  will  now  measure  the  gratitude  of  that  posterity  to  those  whose 
foresight  and  liberal  legislation  started  their  favored  Illinois,  in  the  morn¬ 
ing  of  her  political  existence,  on  the  high  road  to  prosperity,  civiliza¬ 
tion,  and  refinement,  in  company  with  her  sister  States? 

Entertaining  the  foregoing  views,  your  committee  have  come  to  the 
conclusions  expressed  in  the  propositions  stated  in  the  beginning  of  this 
report,  and  which  are  respectfully  submitted  to  the  House  lor  their 
consideration. 


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III.  Legis.  J  ^IIthAssem. 


LETTER 

OF  THE 

PRESIDENT  OF  THE  BOARD  OF  PUBLIC  WORKS, 

*  7  %  ' 

RELATIVE 

\ 

To  the  appointment  of  an  agent  to  purchase  iron . 


\ 

February  19,  1839. 

Read,  and  referred  to  the  Committee  on  Finance. 


Internal  Improvement  Office,  Feb.  1839. 

To  the  Hon.  the  Speaker 

of  the  House  of  Representatives  of  the  State  of  Illinois . 

Sir:  The  Board  of  Public  Works,  in  answer  to  a  resolution  of  said 
House,  calling  for  information  “whether  any  agent  had  been  appointed 
by  the  Board  to  purchase  railroad  iron,  &c.,”  beg  leave  to  state  that  Mr. 
Peck,  Commissioner  of  the  Board  of  Public  Works  for  the  seventh  judi¬ 
cial  circuit,  was  appointed  agent  of  this  Board,  as  will  be  seen  by  a  copy 
of  an  order  hereto  annexed,  marked  A. 

By  reference  to  an  extract  from  the  report  of  Mr.  Peck,  made  to  the 
Board  in  June,  1838,  (a  copy  of  which  is  hereto  annexed,  marked  B,) 
it  will  be  seen  what  was  done  under  said  appointment  by  said  agent. 
No  other  instructions  were  given  except  those  contained  in  said  order. 
A  copy  of  the  contract  mentioned  in  the  said  report  is  herewith  sent, 
marked  C. 

The  President  of  the  Board  furnished  to  said  Peck  fifteen  hundred 
dollars  to  pay  all  the  necessary  expenses  in  said  mission ;  which  sum  the 
Board  has  been  informed  has  been  credited  to  the  President  by  the 
Fund  Commissioners  upon  the  return  of  the  receipt  of  the  said  Peck 
to  their  office. 

Under  an  expectation  that  this  account  would  be  settled  with  the 
President  of  the  Board,  Mr.  Peck  was  not  called  upon  till  to-day  for  a 
statement  of  the  account,  which  he  furnished,  and  is  as  follows,  viz: 


2 


State  of  Illinois,  to  E.  Peck,  Dr. 

To  stage  and  steamboat  fare  from  Chicago  to  New  York, 

Philadelphia  and  Baltimore,  and  back  to  Chicago  -  $131  75 

To  way  expenses  on  said  journey  -  165  00 

66  days’  per  diem  at  $5  -  -  -  -  330  00 


$626  75 


Credit . 

By  cash  received  -  $1,500  00 

The  balance  of  the  sum  unexpended  on  the  mission  as  above  has  been 
disbursed  by  me  as  Commissioner  of  the  Board  of  Public  Works,  for 
which  I  am  prepared  to  account. 

E.  PECK 


A. 

On  motion  of  Mr.  McConnel, 

Resolved ,  That  Ebenezer  Peck,  a  member  of  this  Board,  be  appointed 
a  general  agent  of  this  Board,  and  of  the  State  of  Illinois,  to  proceed, 
in  the  name  of  the  Board  and  of  the  State,  to  contract  for  all  the  rail¬ 
road  iron  that  may  be  needed  for  all  the  railroads  in  said  State  that  may 
be  put  under  contract  for  the  corning  six  months,  in  the  State  of  Illinois; 
and  that  he  be  authorized  to  negotiate  for  said  iron,  by  receiving  propo¬ 
sals  or  otherwise. 


B. 

* 

“As  the  agent  of  the  Board,  the  undersigned  visited  several  of  the  ' 
eastern  cities  for  the  purpose  of  negotiating  for  the  purchase  of  railroad 
iron.  The  success  of  his  efforts  will  appear  by  the  accompanying 
agreement,  signed  by  Messrs.  Boorman,  Johnston  &  Co. 

“At  the  time  of  making  of  this  arrangement,  a  majority  of  the  Board 
of  Fund  Commissioners  were  at  New'  York,  and  it  was  agreed  between 
us  that  they  should  make  the  necessary  arrangements  for  paying  the 
parties  who  were  to  furnish  the  iron;  but  I  am  informed  that,  owing  to 
some  differences  of  opinion  between  the  Fund  Commissioners  and  the  ' 
contracting  parties,  no  arrangement  for  the  payment  of  the  cost  of  the 
iron  has  been  effected.  It  will  therefore  remain  lor  the  Board  to  take 
action  upon  the  subject.” 


3 


c. 

New  York,  April  24,  1838. 

Ebenezer  Peck,  Esq. 

One  of  the  Commissioners  of  the  Board  of  Public  Works. 

Sir:  We  understand  you  wish  to  make  arrangements  for  purchasing 
in  England,  and  importing  to  New  Orleans,  for  account  of  the  State  of 
Illinois,  the  necessary  railroad  iron,  splicing-plates,  and  spikes  or  nails, 
for  two  hundred  and  thirty-six  miles  of  railroad  single  track;  and  that 
the  said  iron  is  to  be  of  the  usual  best  kind  of  iron  used  1  or  the 
purpose  of  railroads,  and  the  flat  bars  to  be  two  inches  and  the  fourth  of 
an  inch  in  width,  and  five-eighths  of  an  inch  in  thickness,  to  be  manu¬ 
factured  with  bevel  or  scarf  joinings,  with  holes  to  receive  spikes  nine- 
sixteenths  of  an  inch  in  diameter,  well  and  sufficiently  counter-sunk  for 
the  reception  of  the  spike  heads;  the  bars  to  be  perforated  at  each  end 
and  at  intervals  not  exceeding  fifteen  inches  asunder. 

That  you  wish  the  execution  of  the  order  to  be  commenced  as  soon  as 
practicable,  and  the  whole  quantity  to  be  shipped  from  Liverpool  or 
Wales  by  the  31st  December,  1839. 

The  iron  to  be  shipped  for  New  Orleans  consigned  to  order,  and  bills 
of  lading  to  be  handed  by  us  to  such  agent  as  you  may  direct.  Each 
shipment  made,  to  contain,  as  nearly  as  convenient,  the  proper  relative 
proportion  of  bars,  plates,  and  nails. 

On  satisfactory  arrangements  being  made  with  us  for  payment,  which 
we  understand  you  leave  to  be  done  by  the  Funding  Commissioners  of 
your  State,  we  are  willing  to  undertake  the  execution  of  this  order,  and 
to  engage  that  the  same  shall  be  duly  contracted  for  in  England,  and 
shipped  on  similar  terms  and  conditions  on  which  we  are  now  executing 
an  order  for  your  State,  under  an  agreement  with  Chas.  Oakley,  Esq. 
These  are: — 

1st.  We  will  transmit  the  needful  orders  to  our  correspondent  in  Li¬ 
verpool,  to  contract  for  the  iron  to  be  delivered  on  board  ship  in  Wales 
or  Liverpool,  (as  may  be  found  most  advantageous,)  and  to  procure 
freightage  for  the  same  to  New  Orleans;  and  on  condition  that  no  risk  or 
responsibility  attaches  to  the  State  till  the  safe  arrival  of  the  iron  at  New  Or¬ 
leans ;  when  the  amount  of  cost,  with  insurance,  is  to  become  due  in  New 
York,  twenty  days  thereafter,  at  the  current  exchange  on  London  at 
such  time. 

2d.  We  engage  to  employ  an  agent  in  Liverpool,  who  shall  manage 
the  business  in  all  respects  on  the  most  advantageous  terms,  at  a  charge 
'of  only  one  per  cent,  on  the  amount  of  the  contract  price  for  the  iron ,  and 
.  hvo  and  a  half  per  cent .  on  the  amount  of  freight  for  procuring  and  hiring 
vessels,  if  the  iron  is  shipped  from  Wales, 

3d.  Our  compensation  for  transacting  the  business  is  to  be  five  per 
cent,  on  the  amount  to  be  charged  and  paid  op  each  shipment  as  the 
cost  of  the  same  is  settled. 

In  respect  to  the  proposed  condition  of  making  the  contracts  subject 
to  inspection  of  the  iron  in  New  Orleans,  that  is  wholly  impracticable,. 


